Of Hope and Light
by Ace of Skulls
Summary: A Takari fanfic! Kari end up in the hospital, and Tk blames himself. Will he be able to express his true feelings? Read and find out! One-shot, rated T for slight violence.


**I'm currently doing a fanfic, but I thought I'd add this little story for those who love my work. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any of it's accompanying features.**

: : :

Of Hope and Light

Her soft brown eyes flicked open as her hair fell in front of them. She sat up, having fallen asleep and leaning over on the boy next to her.

"Tk…Tk wake up." she said softly. His eyes opened slowly, bright blue in the light. He brushed his blonde hair from his eyes and looked at the clock.

"Damn. It's already 11:00. Tai will kill me." he said. They had been working on a project for school and must have fallen asleep because it had only been 9:00 a few minutes ago. Or a few hours ago.

"I'd better go." said Kari. She stood up, stretching. Tk stood as well.

"You want me to walk you home?" he said nicely. Kari smiled. Tk was always so nice to her.

"That's okay Tk. I just live a few miles from here. If I take a shortcut or two I can get home in ten minutes." Tk smiled back at her.

"Are you sure? I don't mind walking with you." he said. She walked over to the door.

"I'll be okay. I'll call you when I get home so you know I'm safe, okay?" Tk nodded and Kari left. She walked down the deserted streets thinking to herself.

'Tk is so nice. He actually would have walked all the way home with me, then walked all the way home himself. I should have said yes. Then at least I'd have someone to talk to.' she saw an alleyway between two stores and knew it was one of her shortcuts. She turned into the alley and instantly regretted it. The alley was dark and cold and Kari felt very scared. But if she turned back know it would take nearly an hour to get home. She really wished Tk had come. Suddenly there was a sound behind her like someone kicking a tin can. She turned and looked.

"Who…who's there? Come out!" her voice was shaky. Then a man stepped out of the shadows near the far end of the alley way. Kari noticed a silver glint in his right hand. A knife. She wanted to scream. She turned to run and heard him running as well. Before she could escape the alley he was on her. She felt a sharp pain shoot up her side. All she could manage was a small whimper before she fell. Kari heard the man running away. She lay on the ground, blood seeping from her side. She was in terrible pain. Kari could tell the wound wasn't big, but it was deep. What if he had punctured one of her vital organs? Tears streamed down her face.

'Tai…Mom…Dad…TK!' she thought, 'HELP ME!'

: : :

Tk was pulled from his sleep by the ringing of a phone. He grumbled to himself. He had been dreaming about Kari. They were together in a field having a picnic. They had both been so happy.

"Takaishi residence. How can I help you?" he said into the receiver.

"Tk! Where's Kari? She should have been home hours ago!" yelled Tai. Tk was surprised.

"Tai she left fifteen minutes ago. Are you sure she isn't home?" said Tk. It was a stupid question, but he asked anyway.

"Oh god Tk what if she's hurt. I have to go look for her." stuttered Tai on the other end. Tk was worried.

"I'll start looking too. I'm sure she's fine Tai." said Tk, not believing it himself. He hung up and put on his shoes. Then he ran outside and started down the path Kari would have taken. When he didn't find her, he started getting worried. Then he remembered some of the shortcuts Kari would have taken. He turned back, checking all the alleyways and parks he could find. When he reached the final alleyway his heart nearly stopped. There in the moonlight, laying in a pool of blood, was Kari.

"KARI! Kari can you hear me!" Tk screamed.

"T…k…help…" she stuttered. She was still alive. Tk was happy. Then he heard Tai calling out.

"Tai! Tai over here! Hurry!" Tk shouted as loud as he could. Tai came within seconds. He knelt by his sister, tears streaming down his face.

"Tk do you have a phone?" he asked. Tk nodded. "Call an ambulance. Alleyway between 112 and 114 Highwood Drive. Tell them to hurry!" he screamed. Tk obeyed.

: : :

The ambulance came in minutes, mainly because the hospital was only a few miles away. They took Kari, along with Tai and Tk, to the hospital. Tai had called his parents to tell them what happened. By midnight they were all in the waiting room. Kari had been taken into surgery.

"Tk, maybe you should go home and rest. We'll call you when Kari gets out." said Tai comfortingly. Tk shook his head.

"I'm staying here until I know she'll be okay." he answered. Tai nodded.

"I understand. But don't you think you should call your mom and tell her you'll be late?" he said. Tk nodded and called his mom. She told him to stay as long as it took. Tk thanked her and hung up. That was when the doctor came into the waiting room. Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya leapt up and put all their attention on the doctor.

"Your daughter is going to be okay. She sustained a lot of blood loss, but luckily none of her vital organs were damaged. She's in room 113 if you'd like to visit her." Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya were down the hall before he had finished his last sentence. Tai started walking when he was pulled back by Tk.

"Tai, can you do something for me?" asked Tk nervously. Tai turned to him and saw tears starting to form in his eyes. "Can you say hi to Kari for me? I don't think I could face her." Tai looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Tears were now streaming down Tk's cheeks.

"This is my fault. I should have walked her home. I could have prevented this. Now Kari is in the hospital because of me." he stuttered. Tai sighed.

"Tk this is not your fault. Now come on. Kari will want to see you too. You're the one who found her after all." he explained to Tk. Tk still felt bad, but he knew Tai was right.

"Okay let's go." said Tk.

: : :

They walked into the room to find Kari sitting up talking with her parents. She looked over as Tai and Tk walked in. Tai slumped down in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs and yawned.

"Took you long enough. We thought you'd never get out of there." he said jokingly. Kari laughed, then doubled over. Tai sat up quickly.

"You okay? My jokes can't be that bad." said Tai lightly. Kari sat up, clearly in pain.

"I'm fine." she said quietly. "It just hurts when I laugh. And when I cough. And sometimes when I breathe." she added jokingly. Tai smiled.

"That's my sis. Maybe you should stop breathing until you feel better." he said. Kari looked up at Tk, who stood awkwardly at the door. She smiled.

"Tk you know you can come in. I want to thank you." she said. Tk looked up at her, surprised.

"Th…thank me? For what?" he stuttered nervously. Tai snickered. It was so obvious Tk liked Kari, but he would never admit it. What he didn't know was that Kari liked him as well.

"If you hadn't found me who knows what would have happened. Thanks Tk." she said. Mrs. Kamiya jumped up from her chair and wrapped her arms around Tk.

"Thank you so much Tk. You saved our daughter's life." she said through her crying. Tai laughed to himself. A nurse came in shortly after.

"Visiting hours are over, but one of you can stay the night if you'd like." she said sweetly before leaving. Tai sat up.

"I can't stay. I've got a huge project to finish tonight." he said. Then he looked at his parents. "That reminds me. Can I ask you two something outside?" The three left the room and stood in the hall.

"You have a project due tomorrow and you still aren't finished?" asked his dad angrily. Tai sighed.

"Of course not. I just said that so I had an excuse to get you two out here. I think we should let Tk stay if he wants. He feels really guilty, and says if he had walked with her she might not have gotten hurt. Plus it will give them a chance to talk without the awkwardness of us three there." Mrs. Kamiya smiled at Tai.

"That's so thoughtful of you Tai. I think it's a good idea, but we need an excuse so it doesn't seem too suspicious." The three walked in and Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya smiled at their daughter.

"I just remembered I have a huge business meeting tomorrow, so I can't stay." said Mr. Kamiya. Mrs. Kamiya looked up, faking a look of realization.

"Oh dear. I can't stay either. I need to make a cake for Mrs. Inoue by tomorrow morning. I'm going to be up all night making it." she sighed. Then she looked over at Tk. "You can stay if you want." she said. Kari smiled.

"That sounds great. What do you think Tk?" she asked. Tk nodded. He called his mom to let her know where he would be, and everyone left.

: : :

A nurse came in shortly after, holding a tray with a needle and a couple other things. Tk saw Kari tense up. She was terrified of needles. He wrapped his hand around hers and she looked at him.

"It's okay. It's just a little needle. I'm here." he said softly. She calmed down greatly, but still tensed up when the nurse gave her the needle. She squeezed Tk's hand and he blushed slightly. When the nurse had finished and left, Kari looked over at Tk.

"Thanks." she said. Tk sat by Kari's bed and smiled at her. Kari noticed him smiling and looked at him.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked curiously. Tk blushed.

"I…uh…I'm just glad you're okay." he said. Kari blushed as well.

"Thanks Tk." the two sat in silence for a while, the only light coming from the small lamp by Kari's bed. Tk looked up to see Kari had fallen asleep. The light cast shadows across her face.

'She looks so beautiful.' thought Tk. Then he let his head fall onto the bed and dozed off. When he woke up it was already 3:00 in the morning. He sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Kari's eyes opened slowly and she looked over at Tk. He smiled.

"Morning, sleeping beauty." he said. Kari blushed slightly, then sat up a little. She winced as the pain shot up her side. Tk put his hand on hers and she felt better. She turned back to him and smiled.

"I was having a great dream. We were having a picnic. It was so nice. We were in a field, and there were bright pink flowers everywhere. Then you said something to me. I can't remember what you said, but I was very happy. I can't remember what happened next." she said. Tk smiled. That sounded a little like the dream he had had. He concluded then that when Kari was released he would take her to the Digital World for a picnic. It would be perfect. He smiled to himself. Kari shifted sideways and patted the bed next to her.

"Come lay with me. You look so uncomfortable in that chair." she said softly. Tk blushed, but crawled in beside her anyway. The hospital bed was actually very comfortable. However, Tk probably thought that because he was lying next to Kari, who he loved more than anyone in the world. Kari leaned into Tk, and Tk wrapped his arms around Kari. Before long they were both asleep.

: : :

Tk's eyes flicked open. He looked down and saw Kari still sleeping in his arms. He smiled to himself and pulled her closer to him. They stayed like that for the better part of an hour. Then Kari woke up. She looked up at Tk and blushed deeply. She sat up, as did he, and they started talking. Around 9:00 Davis, Yolei, Cody and all the other Digi-Destined came in. Noting Davis' intense look of jealousy at Tk sitting with Kari on her bed, Tk smiled to himself. They all joked and laughed (save for Kari, who had a hard time with her stitches.) Around noon one of the nurses entered.

"The doctor says you are free to go now Ms. Kamiya. Just take it easy for a few days and you'll be fine." said the nurse. Then she left and Kari stood up, somewhat painfully, to go and change. When she re-entered from the bathroom everyone had already left. All except for Tk, who was standing in the doorway waiting for her.

"I told the others to go on ahead. I wanted to ask you something." he said shyly. Kari smiled.

"What is it Tk?" she asked. He looked down at the floor, clearly nervous.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come go for a picnic in the Digital World this afternoon. Patamon told me about a really nice valley in the rainbow forest." he looked up at her. She was smiling.

"That sounds great. I'll tell the others that I'm too tired to hang out today and we can go right away." she said. Tk smiled. Within the hour they were in the Digital World. Tk had brought a basket packed with food, and the two just sat and talked. When they were finished Tk looked up at Kari. She was staring around the valley. Hundreds of bright pink flowers had sprouted from the ground. A strange coincidence. Or maybe not. Tk looked at Kari again, who was now looking at him as well.

"Kari, there's something I wanted to tell you. I'm not sure how to say this but…well here goes. I love you Kari." he looked at her nervously. She was smiling. "You're smiling. Is that a good sign?" asked Tk. Kari was still smiling as she moved closer to Tk.

"I think I remember how my dream ended." she said softly. Then she leaned forward and kissed Tk on the lips. He returned the kiss without hesitation. When they finally broke apart they sat quietly for a few minutes. Tk was the first to speak.

"I love you Kari."

"I love you too Tk."

: : :

**Aw...The End! I hope you enjoyed this, because now I have to get back to my other fanfic. Please review! Thanks!**


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